Afterlife Post
by Zogeta
Summary: A quiet moment on the roof of Capsule Corp. A short ficlet, and something of a mourning for the future. Vegeta and Goku. No warnings.
1. Chapter 1

"What are you thinking about

**Afterlife Post**

**By Zogeta**

_Author's note: Wow. Um, okay. After an absence of about two or three years, I'm back here. Oh dear. Well, I thought I should offer this little thinglet for the many people that have faved my works. Thank you for your thoughts and time, everyone. For those who have not read my stuff before: I have grown muchly as a writer, and I hope that you read nothing of the rest of the drivel I have posted on this site. Thanks!_

_Onwards!_

_PS: There is a sequel, which I will only post if there is sufficient interest in this._

"What are you thinking about?"

Vegeta shrugged, not turning to acknowledge the sudden appearance of his long-time rival and now new friend. Kakarot sat beside him, looking out over the lights of West City, feeling millions of ki beats synchronize into a slow, heavy heartbeat that both Saiyans felt echoed by their own. Strange how they could be part of something bigger that they could so easily destroy with one small blast.

Vegeta leaned back on his palms, tipping his head back to look at the sky, though stars were a rarity. "Doesn't death scare you, Kakarot?"

Kakarot mulled this over, a hand lifting to rub calloused fingers along the side of his neck absently. "Not so much the actual occurrence of it. I've been there twice now; I have nothing to fear. Does this have anything to do with you wishing for immortality last month?"

Vegeta sighed inwardly. No matter how many times he'd cursed over the years, the idiot insult had never held true with Kakarot. Kakarot had no idea how his intelligence both irritated and pleased the Prince. But the younger, stronger, happier Saiyan never rubbed it in his face. Never acknowledged his lurking intelligence, and, sadly, rarely acted on it.

"Why did you ask for something like that, Vegeta? I thought that…that thirst for power was gone."

"It's not about power, Kakarot."

A heavy sigh.

"The Buu debacle got me thinking. About divergence."

Kakarot cocked his head to the side. "Divergence?"

Vegeta dropped his head back down, chin on his chest as he looked down at his boots. "About death. I know that no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I hate myself or love the world around me, I'm condemned. That's why I made that selfish, lonely wish. I don't…I don't want to be eternally separated from this home, my family…I'd rather be alone on this planet than alone in hell. Does it bother you that I'm running from the punishment I'm owed?"

Kakarot pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on his arms. "I think you were punished enough by Frieza. By me, even. And you're right; I can believe in you, Vegeta, but that doesn't matter in the face of your past. And this might sound stupid, but I still think you should be allowed to move on with us. There's something so…tragic about leaving you behind."

Vegeta managed a weak smirk. "I'll be fine. I'll have endless families. I'll watch them die and bury them over and over again. I'll look after this planet because its almost home. I'll keep cloning you so that I have someone to spar with. The bean stalk will spend a good few centuries with me after everyone else has gone. I don't…I just don't want to go back _there_."

Kakarot knew what Vegeta was scared of. Reincarnation. Being recycled. Losing everything he'd worked so damn hard for because of a fucked-up past that he'd had almost no control over. He understood his comrade fairly well, though sometimes Vegeta's logic took a turn he couldn't counter. He smiled and bumped his shoulder against Vegeta's.

"I'll miss you."

He sensed Vegeta's faint smile, and leaned his weight ever so slightly into the smaller body next to his. Gratitude had never been a verbal thing with Vegeta.

Goku never liked to think about mortality. He liked to believe that things would always be the same. Roshi would always be a pervert. Goten would always be his little boy. Bulma would keep inventing and…and Vegeta would just be there. Close like this. But he'd lost his Prince twice now, and someday he'd lose him forever. He hated to think about it. He hated the unfairness of it all. He'd been through so much, fought so hard for this tiny slice of life and Yemma still wouldn't budge on his decision. Forty years of blood and pain and loss and sorrow, and the last ten years spent in some attempt at redemption, thrown away in a glorious moment of Majin weakness and stadium destruction.

Goku uncurled an arm and put it around Vegeta's back. They'd come so close to losing each other so many times. Seven long years had put everything back into perspective. Now they got separation anxiety if kept apart without communication. Amazing how death and near-death could make so many things seem so trivial.

Vegeta sighed and leaned against the greatest rival he'd ever had. He'd fought so many battles in his life, but this was one he could not win fairly. He knew it was cheating to wish for immortality, but there was the chance he could perhaps work off his debt with a few centuries of community service. Or maybe Kakarot could sneak off Snake Way and visit him. But still…it was going to be damned lonely between families and lovers as the centuries and millennia wore on.

"Kakarot…is there email in Heaven?"

Goku blinked, then laughed, clapping Vegeta on the back. "Aw, no, Vegeta. But there's unicorn post between Yemma's office and Dende. I'm sure Dende will let you use it to post me."

Vegeta smirked softly and chuckled. "I can always address my letters to 'Kakarot, Fluffy Cloud number four, Snake Way."

Goku grinned and tightened his hold on Vegeta. "We'll be okay. Somehow, we always are. Death is a long, long way off for me…we can work something out with Yemma. I want you to be there with me to annoy King Kai for eternity."

Vegeta turned to smile at him, that rare, heartmelting smile. "I've got faith in the power of Saiyan tenacity. And in your puppy dog eyes."

And they both laughed at that.

END


	2. Letter from Vegeta

**Letter from Vegeta**

**By Zogeta**

16th April

**Summary: **This drabble was spawned by 'Afterlife Post'. Literally three minutes after it was finished. *sweatdrops* At this rate, I'll never get to bed.

Anyway…a follow-up to 'Afterlife Post' and it has no point. But I like it.

***

Being dead didn't really suit Goku the way he'd thought it would.

Heaven was as boring as all hell.

After living a long, full life on Earth (a life two hundred years long) he was now reunited in Heaven with all of his family and friends. Well, everyone but one.

Vegeta was still on Earth, his immortality keeping his body young and fit forever. He refused to die and be either reincarnated or sent to Hell, and was staying on Earth until he worked off his debt. After many years of arguing with King Yemma, the pink guardian of death had finally given in to Goku and Vegeta's demands and said that if Vegeta behaved well enough and worked hard enough, he would eventually be granted a place in Heaven.

Goku had only been dead two months but he was so _bored_. There was no one strong enough to fight and he'd gotten too used to living with Vegeta for the last one hundred years. He was back to being everyone's beloved idiot, the big, stupid Saiyan who kept everyone happy and never once complained about anything. It had taken him a few incidents until he'd gotten used to being called 'Goku' instead of 'Kakarot'.

This was why he had escaped to Snake Way and was sitting on the tail of it, his legs dangling over the edge as he propped his head on his chin and stared at the endless expanse of edible clouds. It was so lonely now. He'd gone down to Hell only to find out that his brother was constantly busy with Turles in ways he didn't like to think about. It made him sadder than before. It made him realise how close he'd gotten to Vegeta when everyone else had died and they were the last two left. Seeing his brother mated to Turles reminded him painfully of the brilliant and close friend he'd left behind.

Goku was soon shocked out of his moping when a silver unicorn the size of a puppy landed next to him, beating its black wings and whinnying at him, a leather pouch slung around its neck. He blinked and absently stroked its fur, wondering what it wanted with him. It jumped up onto his knee, lifting a hoof and patting the pouch around its neck. Goku opened the pouch and withdrew a letter, his face lighting up when he recognised the elegant copperplate handwriting on the front. He patted the unicorn and it licked his hand before flapping its wings and going back down Snake Way towards Yemma's office. Goku almost tore the envelope in his haste to get it open, excited at the prospect of news from Earth.

_Greetings, Kakarot_

_I suppose I should've waited a little longer before mailing you so that you could get settled in, but frankly I'm bored stupid and thought I'd write to you. _

_There's nothing happening here at all. Not even a thunderstorm to get rid of the muggy heat here in West City. I'm still running Capsule Corp and it occupies some of my time, but not enough. I've masterminded several brilliant advertising campaigns (I won three Golden Lion awards for them) and helped sort out many human resources issues, but it's not enough. I read in my spare time, and of course, I train, but that's about it. The great-grandkids aren't much interested in training, but they treat me like some sort of anomaly. _

_I don't mind. I'm about to become a great-great-great-grandfather so there will be brats for me to babysit and occupy me. There are few things more wholly engrossing than newborns. And your descendants have stolen all the photo albums. I've managed to stash mine away, but all of Bulma's ones have been raided. This place is more like a hotel than a home. We've got some rebels in the clan who crash here when they have nowhere else to go. I indulge them as long as they aren't doing major harm. I nearly broke Son Goku Jnr's neck the other day when I found out he was doing cocaine. Imagine, a descendent of the most extroverted Saiyan to ever live needing drugs to cope. Unbelievable. I told him he was bringing shame upon his house and when I said that you'd have been so disappointed he burst into tears. I'm proud to say that he's clean now. Personally, I think it was because he misses you so much. We all do, but that's no way to cope._

_I seriously considered cloning you the other day; I've got the resources and all, but it seemed so wrong. It felt too much like what Frieza used to do. In any case, it wouldn't have been the same. I got used to you with grey hair and crow's feet around your eyes. _

_Yemma says that maybe I can get a golden ticket in fifty years time if I keep this up. Somehow, those fifty years seem like fifty centuries, but I'll cope. It'll be lonely, but no one will match up to Bulma, or you. Especially you. _

_There's barely a drop of Saiyan blood in this last generation. I'm the last speaker of my dead language; the kids refuse to learn it because they think its useless, and a sad part of me knows that this is true. But I still write in my journal everyday, using those runes that took me only three months to teach you. _

_What do you do all day, Kakarot? Do you keep up poker arrangements with Piccolo? Dende's useless at cards, but I spend some time with him, and he takes my advice on things sometimes. He's become a fine guardian and does his job well. Earth is stable and generally peaceful. _

_I'm looking forward to my birthday. I'm going to be two hundred and ten. I have only four grandchildren, but they did well and I've got many descendents. And your grandkids count me as their 'other' granddaddy so I'll be pretty spoilt on my birthday. But it will be my first one since you've died. So no more surprise parties (though it stops being a surprise six decades later) and no more dodgy birthday cakes. Yes, it meant the world to me that you tried to make a cake with a design on it for me, but sometimes your icing figures looked deranged. Oh well, it was always good for a laugh. _

_Have you gone down to Hell to say hello to Raditz? You did say that you wanted to fix things up with him. He's actually a really good Saiyan, considering how messed up we were then. He's a hairier, sarcastic version of you. At least, that's if my memory serves me well. It's starting to fade in places. I can't remember my childhood at all. Not that I really had one, but that's beside the point. _

_Well, you know how to get hold of me now, though you are free to telepath me at any time. I have no girlfriend to distract me, nor a sparring partner. _

_Suffice to say, Kakarot, its damned lonely down here. It's hard not having you around. I got so used to having you nearby, sharing my life with me. If things had gone right, we would have died together, peacefully. I wouldn't be here and you over there. We would be sparring now, or eating, or something. I can't bear the fact that no one remembers things the way I do. All the inside jokes, the memories, I have no one to share them with. No one will laugh at the 'Marshmallow Incident' and the kids see me as a glorified babysitter and cash machine. Wait until I tell them that the majority of Capsule Corp's profits are actually going to societies for animals, as well as shelters and support homes for abused women and children. They're going to whine when I slash their pocket money down again. They could stand to do a few days of hard work. I know I did once. Still do. _

_I know I shouldn't be so maudlin but like I say, its too quiet around here. Even the brats and their brats don't fill the space. There's this _gap_ and I don't know what to do with it. Sometimes I sit in my office and stare at the fish tank and wonder if immortality is really worth it. But then I remember that this is the only way I'll ever get to see you again so I put up with it. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though. _

_I'll sign off now, Kakarot, before I go on for too many pages and the unicorn won't be able to bring this in one trip. Those things are cute, but they're too damned small. I'll find a way to send you some food next time._

_Write back soon, old friend. You are sorely missed this side of existence. _

_Warmest and fondest regards, _

_Vegeta _

Goku smiled, rereading the letter several times before carefully putting it back in its envelope and tucking it into his gi.

It was so good to hear from Vegeta again. He looked at the date on the letter and counted in his head; Vegeta's birthday was three weeks away. He'd definitely sneak down to Earth, if only for a few hours, so that he could be with his best friend on his big day.

Goku flopped onto his back, smiling at the shifting, pink sky. They wouldn't be separated forever; that was enough to know for now. Until then, they'd write letters and keep each other filled in. Goku blinked as he suddenly realised something.

Where was he going to find some paper and a pen?

He grinned as he flicked onto his feet. It was time for a trip to Yemma's office then; the giant was bound to have some stationary to spare. Goku began a stroll down Snake Way, hardly believing it once took him months to transverse it. How he had grown…

He smiled and pulled the letter out to read it again. He was ultimately satisfied with his past life, and maybe now death wouldn't be so bad, as long as he got post from his greatest rival and friend. Hell, it made for good reading.

Son Goku grinned as he flipped the letter over and found a postscript.

_PS: I expect you to find a way here for my birthday. Believe me; I'm going to be there for yours. V._

"I believe you, Vegeta. I believe you."

With that, the strongest man dead trotted down Snake Way, halo bobbing above him as he contemplated the letter he'd be sending back. He knew it wouldn't be as exciting as Vegeta's but the contact would be welcomed. And he wished he could be there to see his friend smile.

Oh well. If all went well, they'd see each other in due time. Until then, he'd be making good use of his impressive grasp of Saiya-go.

He knew it would make Vegeta's day.

END


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